


Discoveries

by TheIronDragonLover (RannaFic)



Series: With Friends Like These [1]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-12
Updated: 2015-03-12
Packaged: 2018-03-17 12:18:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3529112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RannaFic/pseuds/TheIronDragonLover
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Krem overhears the Inquisitor talking about his relationship with Iron Bull and realizes he has to break the two up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Discoveries

Krem couldn't believe his ears. He had always supported the Chief's relationship with the Inquisitor but now, he was going to have to shut this down. There was no way he would allow anyone to take advantage of the Chief, not even the Inquisitor. 

Bull's voice was still calm, but Krem could tell the Qunari was starting to get annoyed. "Look guys I know you mean well but you are not in charge of my personal life." The other Chargers exchanged glances with Krem. The Iron Bull had looked stunned at Krem's report and then simply retorted that he was not going to break up with his Kadan. It was a very bad sign, Bull always confronted everything head on. Rocky interjected "Krem maybe you misunderstood? Maybe there was more context or .." Krem was livid "Just what context would make a comment like ’There's no one important in my life?’ or ’Ignore those rumors. I just hang out with my bodyguard to keep the bill down’ acceptable?" At that the meeting devolved into shouting until finally Bull's voice rang out "Enough! This is my business and there will be no more discussion of it, clear?" Krem tried one last time "Chief ..." Bull's voice was quiet "Are we fucking clear?" That was enough for the Chargers. "Clear" Krem subsided but he swore that this was NOT over.

Lavellan had known it would happen eventually. He had hoped that the dragon's tooth, Iron Bull taking him as his Kadan would stave off the inevitable, but it seemed that in the end even that would not be enough. There was a part of him that was jeering "Did you really think that you would ever be good enough?" On some level he had never really expected anything else, but he had hoped, and now, well it seemed that The Iron Bull's initial request for a more casual relationship was all Bull had really wanted. Maybe he had pushed Bull into this and he just took the dragon tooth out of politeness, or maybe he had been ordered to get closer to the Inquisitor for spying and now that he was Tal-Vashoth he didn't need to pretend anymore. Lavellan sighed, there was no point dwelling on why, the question was, what was he going to do about it? Was he really so pathetic as to stay in this pale imitation of their former relationship for whatever meager crumbs he could get? Suddenly he laughed at himself. Who was he kidding, he might as well stop pretending to himself. He would do whatever he had to, take whatever he could get as long as possible. So Bull now called him nothing but Boss again, so the sex was less frequent and had lost that gentleness that he loved most of all. The fact was Bull still clearly desired him and he'd take that if it was all that was on offer. To make things worse the reactions of the Chargers had changed as well. He assumed they were responding to the change in Bull's behavior. He had hoped that they would give him some information on why Bull had changed almost overnight but his inquiries had gone exactly nowhere, which was hardly surprising given their complete loyalty to Iron Bull. They were still polite, well most of them, but the camaraderie was gone. He dismissed it all from his mind with an effort. He would take things as they came.

"Does he have no pride?" Stitches seemed a complicated mix of angry and almost admiring. Krem couldn't understand why someone with the prestige and power of the Inquisitor was not long gone. The Chargers had frozen him out and for all Bull's protests Krem could see how his revelations had damaged the relationship. The Iron Bull was polite and professional in their formal business relationship, though even that had started to fray a bit. However in their personal interactions Bull was now sometimes well, almost cruel, deliberately embarrassing Lavellan with demeaning comments and lately even engaging in actions that were completely inappropriate outside their bedroom with what could only be interpreted as a display that The Iron Bull was using the Inquisitor for his amusement. In the last week or so Krem had almost felt sorry for the Inquisitor at times, even though most of the time these days he hated the elf. Krem hating seeing Bull behave like this and hated even more the amount of suppressed pain that the behavior indicated. If the Inquisitor hadn't saved the world from Corypheus then Krem would probably have at least considered a direct attack against him, but as it was he couldn't countenance such a thing. What would it take to make the elf give up though? Krem had also tried the obvious move given what he had heard, of raising their fee little by little, but Leliana had continued to pay without complaint. Krem turned to Dalish "You're an elf too. What will work to break this up?" At her hesitation he continued "You know their relationship can't be good for either of them at this point and it's just getting worse. Bull doesn't respect the way Lavellan doesn't push back" Dalish sighed "I'm not sure you are right about the Inquisitor's feelings for Bull. He always seemed to me to be completely enamored but " She held up a hand as Krem began to interrupt "No I'm not saying you are lying or didn't hear what you reported it just... Never fit with anything I saw from him." She sighed "This will make no sense to you but .. pretend that you still thought that the Inquisitor was head over heels for Bull and you disapproved for some reason. I think that approach will bear more fruit. Now if you will excuse me" Krem left the tavern. He needed to think.

"But why?" Lavellan sounded stunned and so hurt than Krem almost wanted to take it all back. He countered with a bit of truth "This relationship is no longer good for him. He is hurting you, and that is not who he is. He doesn't do that to his ... bed partners" Lavellan flinched at that description and Krem had to harden his heart again "and don't try to bring your kinks into this. That is not what we are talking about." Lavellan flushed "I wasn't , I .." he visibly calmed himself "You're serious. You'll force him to choose between me and the Chargers if I don't" his voice wavered and then firmed ".. don't give him up." Krem could only nod. None of this felt right. Why should the Inquisitor care about Bull's feelings if he only wanted a cheaper bodyguard? Maybe he still thought of him as a friend even if he was opportunistic? Maybe .. his thoughts were interrupted by the Inquisitor's answer "Fine, I'll .. I'll tell him that we don't need mercenaries any more." He turned away and then back his face stern. "You damn well better take care of him Krem that's all." 

As Iron Bull stomped off to his tent, finally done yelling, the other Chargers all looked at Krem and he sighed. It was no use. He had not imagined that The Iron Bull could ever be beaten, destroyed, but that was what was happening. The relationship with Lavallan had hurt him, hurt who he was, but being without the elf was clearly worse. Bull was always angry and bitter now and even his fighting was stale and done without joy. It didn't help that their parting from Skyhold had been acrimonious in what had been in retrospect an attempt by the Inquisitor to take all the blame himself, not wanting to damage Bull's relationship with the Chargers. Krem could still remember his icy tones when he said "Your services are no longer required." He couldn't imagine how much worse it was for Iron Bull. Finally he was prepared to admit defeat "Ok you guys win. As bad as it was in Skyhold this is clearly worse. So any ideas for what we should do?" Grim came up with the best plan "You go talk to the Inquisitor. Tell him something, who knows what, that we need the money? I think even now Bull would respond to a request from him but nothing would make him approach first."

Krem arrived to find Skyhold in an uproar. He grabbed the nearest soldier "What's going on?" The soldier looked stunned "Didn't you hear? The Inquisitor had a huge fight with his advisers. Cullen is preparing to leave and Leliana also. Everyone is trying to decide what side they're on." Krem couldn't believe it "What about?" The soldier shrugged "Cullen was yelling at him for having a death wish last week. Guess it's about that." Krem felt himself freeze. This was all wrong. The Inquisitor devastated over Iron Bull, Bull just as upset over him, none of this was right. For the first time he wished he had just kept his mouth shut. Maybe they could have worked it out. Maybe ... maybe there really was some other explanation. Suddenly he knew he had to tell the Inquisitor the truth and find out just what was really going on.

Lavellan heard the door open behind him. He sighed but didn't bother turn around "I'm sorry Cullen I will try and do better I promise. It's just hard. I wish I had never had anyone. Then I could just continue to do this all out of duty. I wouldn't feel so empty and alone all the time if I had never ..." The voice that responded startled him "Maybe you don't have to be alone." He spun in shock "Krem?" but if Krem was here then, he felt faint suddenly, "Oh gods Bull?" "No! He's fine, well not fine but... physically OK at least" Lavallan's heart started again "What is he injured? Do you need help?" Krem sighed "I need to tell you something." 

Krem jumped as the Inquisitor spun and with a hand gesture shot a bolt of lightning out the balcony doors. There was an awkward pause and then as Krem watched he slumped back into his chair. "By the gods! I knew it was a bad idea! I told her but she insisted it was harmless, no one would ever know and at the time Cassandra had just left and Solas too and I worried it would all fall apart so I just went along with it." Krem's mind spun What? Suddenly it all became clear "You were pretending, for some scheme of Leliana's." The Inquisitor looked up at Krem and he flinched at the pain in his eyes "Josephine actually, not that it matters. She wanted me to 'flirt and play nice' with one of her very, very rich visitors. It was supposed to do no harm and no one would ever know and now I've ruined everything and worse of all hurt Iron Bull and all for what? A handful of coin. I knew I would never be enough to hold him long term but at least I thought I wouldn't hurt him and now I have." Krem couldn't believe it "Are you seriously blaming yourself for this mess?" Lavellan looked at him clearly surprised "Well of course, who else. I never should have agreed .." Krem cut him off with a shout "Blame me for goodness sake. Hell blame Iron Bull for not trusting you or even talking to you about it. You are an idiot if you are blaming yourself!" Lavellan looked startled and then briefly amused "I like you Krem you're not afraid to speak your mind." then he looked sad again. "I just wish you had spoken up before it came to this. So why are you telling me this anyway?" Suddenly he looked angry "Did Leliana ask you to come? OK so fine I was more careless than I should have been but she didn't have to disrupt your life, Bull's life, just to get me back in line. I won't lie, it does help to know that it wasn't me, something I did, but Bull's moved on I'm sure. He told me up front it was a casual thing, it's not his fault I got too attached and I won't have him pressured." Krem gaped at the Inquisitor and then threw up his hands "I give up! The Iron Bull hasn't moved on and you were anything but casual to him. He never called anyone Kadan before and he still wears the other half of that tooth I see around your neck. You are coming with me and we are going to go sort this out right now!"

If you had asked Iron Bull which of his Chargers was the most reliable he would have said Krem without any hesitation. That was why he was puzzled when Krem was nowhere to be found. To further compound the mystery the others attempted to evade the question when asked where he was. Bull was considering knocking some heads together, probably literally, when Krem finally came riding up with, of all people, the Inquisitor in tow. Iron Bull found himself wanting to touch Lavellan, to hold him, with a ferocity that surprised him. However he remembered his curt dismissal, so when the Inquisitor came riding up he kept his expression disinterested and ignored him turning to Krem and asking curtly "So what's the offer? I imagine its good if you've got such a important person willing to swallow his pride and come begging for our help again." Krem sighed "Bull there is something I need to tell you" Iron Bull listened. The revelation of what had really been going on with the overheard comments made him feel a complicated mixture of vindication and embarrassment. He turned to Lavellan "I don't know what to say to you except I'm sorry. I treated you badly when I should have just trusted you, talked to you. Can we ... do you want to start again?" Before Lavellan could answer Krem interjected "Wait Chief there's more." Bull listened in disbelief to Krem's explanation of the blackmail threat. The idea that someone he trusted would go behind his back, deliberately disrupt his relationship with his Kadan made him the angriest he had ever been in his life. Iron Bull found himself drawing back his fist for a punch that he knew would do serious damage but not caring. To his surprise Lavellan interposed himself between them, insisting that Bull should be pleased that Krem was so protective of his chief. Bull could not believe it "He threatened to take my Chargers!" Lavellan was adamant "No. He was bluffing me. He would never have really tried it and knows he would have lost anyway. He cares about you enough to do something when you are hurt Bull. How is that a bad thing? Let it go. If he should have confirmed it, done some more investigation, well you should have talked to me about it too. He won't make a similar mistake again." Bull had wanted to at least do some yelling but Lavellan had pulled on him. "We've been apart for months. Do you really want to waste time being mad when we could be doing other things to make up for lost time?" Iron Bull had not been able to disagree with that.

Iron Bull woke and looked down at the elf curled up next to him. Lavellan stirred briefly but as Bull stroked his hair he smiled and fell back asleep again. Finally all was right with the world again. 


End file.
